


Brave, or Stupid?

by TheFalconWarrior



Series: Life is a Rollercoaster (A Big, Twisty One) [22]
Category: Batgirl (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, Batman and the Signal (Comics), Nightwing (Comics), Red Robin (Comics)
Genre: (almost) a casefic, (kind of), And Sure Dick is Somehow Killing Himself Somewhere, Dick Grayson is a good bro, Gen, Tim Drake is a Worrier, Tim Drake to the Rescue, but - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-02
Updated: 2020-06-08
Packaged: 2021-02-27 04:48:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,802
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22081339
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheFalconWarrior/pseuds/TheFalconWarrior
Summary: Batman and Robin are in space, Alfred is on vacation, Red Hood and the Outlaws are in Asia.More importantly: Batgirl, Signal and Oracle have Gotham; Nightwing is off the radar; and Red Robin is freaking out."Dick always makes sure we all know where he is. If he goes off the radar, either something bad is going down or he’s doing something stupid.”On hiatus, possibly discontinued
Relationships: Stephanie Brown & Duke Thomas, Tim Drake & Dick Grayson
Series: Life is a Rollercoaster (A Big, Twisty One) [22]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1410376
Comments: 16
Kudos: 116





	1. Red Robin in: BRAVE, OR STUPID? Part 1 of 3

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt #22: Expensive (It's a long story)  
> That's it, I am officially writing way too many fics at the same time.  
> Quick note: This story is like, loosely related to all the other stuff in this collection (Which literally shortens to LiaR, that’s hilarious). It’s not an AU exactly, just typical pickings-from-a-multitude-of-canons and whatever events happen in the stories themselves, so the only reason this is here is to note Dick and Tim got an apartment together at some point.

Duke and Stephanie were in charge. 

Steph was sitting in the chair in front of the Batcomputer, spinning in circles. 

“This is awe-some!” she sang, throwing her arms into the air. 

Duke could feel an answering grin rising. “We’ll have to figure out how to work this out, though. Like, I usually patrol daytime but I feel like we should have a system in case we need two people out at night.” 

Steph tilted her head. “True. We should—” 

The Batcomputer pinged. Steph whirled around. 

_Incoming call from Titans Tower_. 

Steph hit a button, and a window opened up in the corner of the screen. 

“Well hello, Double R.” 

Red Robin smiled, quick and sharp. “Hey, Batgirl. Signal. How’s things?” 

“Absolutely amazing.” 

Red Robin huffed a laugh. “Yeah, I was just talking with Oracle. I heard you guys are handling Gotham.” 

Steph tilts her chin up, but there’s a goofy smile spreading across her face as she glances at Duke. “Yup, we’ve got Gotham.” Duke feels a matching grin on his own face. 

“Oh. Oh, cool.” Quiet for a beat. “So it’s like, just the two of you?” 

All of a sudden the goofiness drains out of Steph, and she’s all sharp angles and narrow eyes. “ _Yes._ We can handle Gotham, Red Robin.” 

Tim’s eyes widen and he waves his hands. “Oh, no, no, I know you can. I didn’t mean it like—look. I just. You haven’t bumped into Nightwing or anything, have you?” 

Steph blinks. “Nightwing? No.” 

“Dick?” 

“Nope.” 

“Ah. Okay. Thanks, I’m gonna—” 

“What happened, Tim?” 

“Nothing! It’s just—okay, fine, stop _looking_ at me like that, Batgirl. Look. Black Bat is in Hong Kong, Red Hood and his gang are in Asia, somewhere, Batman and Robin are in space, and you guys are in Gotham. But I have no idea where Nightwing is.” 

“So? God knows you _all_ drop off the radar whenever you feel like it.” 

Tim shakes his head hard, his hair flying. “Nuh-uh. Look. Jason _always_ disappears. I mean, he doesn’t try to stop anyone finding out where he’s going but he doesn’t ever actually _tell_ anyone unless they ask, but Dick usually asks, even if he won’t tell anyone else. Bruce literally disappears. Cass does what she wants. Robin would be grounded for life if he pulled a stunt like that. And, okay, I disappear sometimes, too. But Dick _always_ makes sure we all know where he is. If he goes off the radar, either something bad is going down or he’s doing something _stupid_.” 

“Did you just call Nightwing stupid? I’m gonna tell him you called him stupid.” 

“Jason does that to his face all the time. So he hasn’t been around?” 

“Nope.” 

“Do you need help?” Duke offered. 

“...Nah. You guys handle Gotham. I’ve got this.” 

*** 

“Nightwing can take care of himself.” 

“Is that all you’re gonna say?” 

“Hmph.” 

*** 

“Relax, Redbird, he’s alive.” 

“Don’t call me that, that’s what I called my car. And how do you know?” 

“He called me yesterday. No, he didn’t tell me where he is, but that’s his business. So cool your jets Replacement.” 

*** 

“Tt. Some of us have work to be done, Drake, don’t shove your insecurities on us.” 

“Insecu--what?” 

“Goodbye, Drake.” 

*** 

“Can’t leave, sorry, brother.” 

“It’s okay, Cass. I get it.” 

“Keep me updated?” 

“Of course.” 

*** 

“You know about the check-in system, Red. Even though _the rest of you_ never bother to use it, Nightwing, thankfully, does. He’s fine.” 

*** 

“Leaving already?” Kon asked, leaning in the doorway. 

“What?” Bart appeared at his elbow. “I thought you were staying the rest of the week!” 

Red Robin forced a quick smile. “Something came up. I’m sorry, but I gotta go.” 

“Anything we can help with?” Kon asked, although his face said he suspected he knew the answer. 

Tim opened his mouth, then paused. Kon was watching him, and Bart was bouncing on his toes. 

“I’ll let you guys know.” 

Kon gasped. “Not a _no_? I’m so proud of you, Robin.” 

“Oh, shut up,” Tim muttered shoving past him. “You’re making me sound like a mini-Bruce.” 

“Are you saying you’re not?” Tim sent him a withering glare, and Kon raised his hands, laughing. “Kidding, Tim, kidding. See ya around?” 

Tim nodded. “See ya.” 

Bart zipped over for a three-millisecond hug before zipping back to Kon’s side. “Bye Tim!” 

Tim smiled, a real one this time, and turned to leave. 

*** 

Five hours later, he was dropping his backpack on the couch in the small, two-bedroom apartment he shared with Dick. “Home sweet home.” 

First things first. 

Tim clapped his hands together and started searching the apartment. 

And yeah, that included rifling through Dick’s room. 

If Dick was going to disappear on him with no warning, you could be damn sure Tim was reserving the right to go through his things looking for clues. 

A quick search of the apartment revealed: 

No sign of Dick’s laptop or phone. Obviously, if Dick was leaving Gotham for any period of time he’d take them with him. 

Three empty cereal boxes. (And Dick KNEW the Honey Bunches of Oats were _Tim’s_ cereal, dammit.) 

Three missing hoodies, along with several t-shirts and jeans, although Tim wouldn’t be able to give an exact number. (What, did you think when they went on long missions outside of Gotham they stayed in their suits the whole time? Ew, no.) 

A Nightwing suit, with one large rip in the sleeve just above the elbow, hung in the space behind a panel in the pantry wall. Clean, but unmended. 

Tim chewed his lip and glanced at the duffel bag on the couch. 

“Welp, I was gonna use the big boy toys, anyways.” 

*** 

Another ten minutes later (Red Robin suit unceremoniously dropped into the wallspace (he’d deal with it later) and laptop tucked into a messenger bag, Tim left the apartment. 

Sneaking into a maintenance door behind the bustling parking garage two blocks down was practically second nature now. 

Three hidden doors later, Red Robin was dropping his bag on the floor and dropping into an office chair as he rolled it in front of the computer. 

Nightwing’s cycle was still there. Not much of a surprise, that, Tim already knew Dick had likely left Gotham. 

He glanced back at the cases set against the wall. They’d all amassed a collection of suits over the years. And not just redesigns. They all had at least one spare, but Bruce especially loved stashing multiple suits in weird places. And then there were specialized suits. There was only so much you could pack into the regularly-worn suit. Once again, Bruce won for most widely arrayed (and baffling) collection—but then there was also a more armored suit for Dick, who normally traded some protection for added flexibility, and Tim knew someone had a suit designed for Arctic temperatures (though most of them didn’t bother) and he could swear Jason literally has a space-suit. 

Dick’s spare (regular) suit was missing. 

Well. That was a good sign, hopefully. 

“I’ll give you one last chance, Dick,” Tim murmured, pulling out his phone and hitting Dick’s number. 

“The person you are trying to call has a voice mailbox that is full,” the automatic lady informed him. 

He tapped out a command on the computer. 

_Outgoing Comm to: Nightwing_. 

Nothing. 

Tim cracked his knuckles. “Alright then, Dick, let’s see what you’ve been up to.” 

*** 

“Red Robin is back in town.” 

Duke glanced at the screen of the Batcomputer, but Stephanie didn’t look up from pulling on her gloves. “Will he be joining us?” 

Oracle didn’t answer, but a new window popped up in the corner of the screen. 

_Outgoing Comm to: Red Robin_. 

“Hey Oracle.” 

“Red Robin,” Oracle responded evenly. “Back in town so soon?” 

“Hm? Oh. Yeah. I. Needed something. From my place.” 

“I see. Will you be patrolling tonight?” 

“What? Oh. I was—well, I could?” 

“You weren’t planning on it.” 

“I--no. No, I wasn’t.” 

“Alright then. Carry on with...whatever you’re doing. Have fun.” 

“Thanks.” 

_Call ended_. 

“Well, there’s that,” Steph announced. 

“There’s that,” Duke agreed. 

Steph pulled the cowl over her hair. “Here we go,” she said, and shot Duke a grin and a thumbs-up. She swung a leg over her motorcycle, revved the engine, and Batgirl was gone. 

Duke pulled up the Batcomputer’s surveillance network and settled in. 

*** 

Once Tim had found the locked and encrypted files, it was a dead giveaway. 

And really, he personally thought Dick should know better. He probably would’ve had more luck just hiding them in plain sight amongst the millions of other files in their family’s linked database. Would’ve taken Tim longer to find them, anyways. 

(Then again, Tim was the only one looking. So.) 

It took him three hours to hack into the files. 

He blinked up at the maps and notes spread out across the screen. He wanted to grit his teeth or groan or maybe even smash his head against the keyboard, but all he managed was a resigned sigh as he slumped back in the chair. 

“Really, Dick?” 


	2. This isn't a chapter and I am very sorry

Hey. Okay, so this is...something I never thought I'd do, because in general I've always had a policy of finish-what-you-started-even-if-it-takes-fifteen-years. And this story was...supposed to take, like, a month, tops.

Yeah, I'm saying I might not finish this fic. I mean, I know the last update was like--six months ago? And at first I was dragging my feet because I had the more action-orientated scenes that I needed to pin down, and a side story I really wanted to include that I had to figure out...But looking back at my notes the story is also really centered around a...controversial interpretation of a certain character which I'm...not sure I want to...I don't know...support by writing? I mean, I know I hated it. Still do, actually. But then this story was born of--amongst other things--a 'what the actual ????' realization about something canon (at some point) involving...that character.

Alright so sorry for that mess of vague dramatic rambling. But basically IF this story is ever continued, it won't be until a long while. I might rework the story to fit the character differently. Or find someone with a scheme to replace her. Or, I don't know, just write it. Maybe. Possibly. Likely not. Like I said...won't be for a long while, I'm gonna write the last fic in this series then finish my 2019 prompts, and I'm going back to working on my chapter story and try a Batman Bingo and _maybe_ do something with the 2020 Inktober prompts. Longgg time.

Might post the bits I've got if anyone's interested. Or if anyone wants to know who exactly I'm talking about. 

Anyways. I kinda...felt like I should put that out there. Sorry.

**Author's Note:**

> I was gonna let this sit and go over it again a few times but ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ here we are.  
> Also I've been imagining this whole thing in comic format and now I really want to draw it out.


End file.
